San Marino: The World's Oldest Republic and Its Three Towers
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San Marino claims to be the world's oldest republic, having been founded — according to tradition — in 301 AD by Marinus, a Christian stonemason from the island of Rab in modern-day Croatia who fled Roman persecution and established a small community on Monte Titano. The claim cannot be verified against contemporaneous records, but the republic has been continuously self-governing since at least the early medieval period, making it the oldest surviving constitutional republic in the world regardless of the precise founding date.
The republic is entirely enclosed within Italy — 61 square kilometres on and around Monte Titano in the Emilia-Romagna region, with a population of 34,000. The three towers of San Marino — Guaita, Cesta, and Montale — sit on the three peaks of Monte Titano and are visible for kilometres across the surrounding Italian plain. They are the country's defining image and appear on the flag. From their walls, on clear days, the Adriatic coast is visible fifty kilometres to the east.
San Marino has survived centuries of Italian unification pressure, Napoleon's offer to extend its borders (politely declined), and every other external pressure that has ended the sovereignty of every other small medieval Italian republic. The explanation offered by San Marino's historians is a combination of political flexibility — switching allegiances quickly when necessary — and genuine goodwill from neighbouring powers who respected the republic's longevity and its lack of aggressive ambition. San Marino has never tried to become larger. It has always tried to remain itself.
